Whenever an income tax raid takes place, the usual targets are bank lockers, safe deposit vaults and other lockers. This is because the usual suspicion of the Income Tax Deptt. is that, unaccounted income, valuables or jewellery, etc. are kept in such lockers. Some lockers may not be declared before the Assessing Officer. However, Income Tax Offi •cer through their investigation agency, are able to find out the lockers and their location, etc. The lockers are either sealed or broken open or, the owner of the lockers or the person in possession of the keys is forced to open the same and allow the Income Tax Departmental Officers to verify the contents. If a list of items kept in the locker along witha statement of their ownership is prepared and one copy is kept with the jewellery, etc. in the locker and one copy is placed in the office file or personal file of the assessee, it would facilitate explanations regarding their ownership. If jewellery, etc. belonging to more than one person is kept in one locker, care should be taken to put separate tags relating to the separate ownership of the articles along with other details. The other details should relate to the Income Tax File No. or Permanent Account No. of the owner of jewellery, etc. and the assessment year in relation to which the same has been disclosed. Where a person is not liable to income tax or wealth-tax and there has been no occasion to disclose the jewellery, etc. before the Income Tax Department, a statement about the mode of acquisition and the person from whom the jewellery, etc. were received, whether by way of gift or otherwise, should be noted in a separate sheet of paper and kept with the jewellery. The other copy should be available in the personal or office file of the assessee. This would facilitate explanations for the ownership of the jewellery, etc. If jewellery belonging to more than one person is kept at one place and separate tags or sheets of papers relating to their ownership are also kept along with the jewellery, the Income Tax Department would not attempt to club the same in one hand. Even if the entire jewellery 15/ ultimately mixed up by the Department, the fact that it was kept separately, under separate names, indicating separate ownership, would ultimately help in explaining the source of the jewellery and getting the jewellery released from the Income Tax Department. |
